"I'd start a revolution... if I could get up in the morning..." ~Aimee Allen

Day 1 - Very first video game.
Probably Centipede, and another... Doodle something? I can’t remember what it was called, but it involved drawing circles around objects that popped onto your screen. The objects would disappear if you encircled them and as you levelled, they would appear more often and some would move, making it difficult to avoid touching them, which would cause game over on my spiffy CoCo2. Note: These games were on a cassette!

Day 2 - Your favorite character.For this category, I’m going to draw upon my fighting game days and recall the characters that I simply loved playing. I would generally gravitate towards the female characters and was often teased by the boys because “only girls pick girls.” Silly boys. Yes, I boobs appeal to me, but I love the speed of the characters and the deadly things they could do with their legs. (Ironically, I rarely played females in my favourite fighting game of all time, Mortal Kombatbecause none of them appealed to me strongly enough.) I mastered all their moves and made sure I had all costume options available.

[My husband and I specifically picked this up for the co-op option, having previously enjoyed playing Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance II together.] Co-op play did not let us down. This is more than just a button masher. There was actual strategy involved to avoid getting your butt handed to you. Not that we weren't often left holding our butts, but each massacre allowed us the opportunity to rework our strategies to suit.

Frustration really only came in the initial stages when we found ourselves short on potions and, not being used to games with save points (we've been playing MMOs lately, where people are usually around to heal or raise us and you don't take the big risks unless you *really* want or have to), having to go back through dungeons and trials when we died.

The story is engaging and the character banter is amusing (but it's noDragon Age: Origins). The path is straight forward, but surprisingly, not overly repetative. The puzzles are interesting enough to do them all without the temptation to Google a walkthrough, even for me, who is a fan of the Holy Cult of Strategy Guides. Once you reach Chapter 4 onward, the game thankfully acknowledges that side quests and such get kinda tedious and starts to get straight to the point.

Due to other engagements, our co-op play was put off and I eventually decided to go on by myself to victory. Initially, I had played the introduction alone and was annoyed with the NPC who enjoyed running into battle, dying, then yelling for me to toss him a regen potion, by which time, I had been swarmed by the mobs and was soon dead myself. Fortunately, Caddoc wised up by Chapter 4 and was a very useful and intelligent ally. Almost made me happy I dumped my husband, but, if I didn't know better, the AI's actions and banter were plucked from J's previous play. It also seemed as if Caddoc was picking up on my tricks and using them himself.

Day 4 - Your guilty pleasure game. Warhawk. This isn’t the kind of game I’d normally play. It’s repetitive. It’s frustrating. It can be filled with assholes. I can’t fly a Warhawk for shit. But dammit, sometimes it just feels good to get in a tank and blow shit UP.

Day 5 - Game character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).

Commander Molly Shepard. Mass Effect was the first RPG I played where I actually RPed, however, much of me slipped in to my legacy Shepard. She is Nightxade: the me I would be if I removed all my insecurities and bindings to society’s rules. She gets the job done, no matter the cost. She understands that sacrifices have to be made and she understands the concept of “means to an end.” She is ruthless, but that does not mean she is heartless. The sacrifices always cost her a piece of her soul, but she to believe that what is lost is always slightly less than what is gained in the end; victories are always Phyrric. She is willing to die for the cause, but finds far greater value in fighting and surviving to keep on fighting, because no one can predict what comes next, and she doesn’t believe that anyone else but her is capable of handling those unknowns.

WHAT IS THIS?

This is my mindspill. Mostly about comics, books, video games, movies of the science fiction and fantasy leanings. Sometimes recipes and parenting stuff will sneak in, along with a real world rant or two.